Fire-escape.



o. 726,708. v I PATENTED APR; 28, .1903.

- E. P. LE GOMPTEA FIRE ESCAPE. APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 20, 1902.

H0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 v Subwa V 1 b flxflgwy llNiTnn STATES PATENTOFFICE.

EDWVARD P. LE COMPTE, OF PARK CITY, UTAH.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

$PF GIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 726,708, dated April28, 1903.

Application filed Tannery 2( 1902. Serial No. 90,471. (No model.) V

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatLEDwARn P. LE OoMP E, a citizen of the United States,residing at Park City, in the county of Summit and State of Utah, haveinvented certain'new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invent-ion relates to fire-escapes of that type in which a ladder isprovided which depends or is hung from a track or way secured to thefront of a building at or near the eaves thereof and along which theladder is intended to be drawn to bring itin front of the windows of thebuilding; and the object thereof is to provide an extremely simple andedective apparatus of this class.

To this end the invention includes a ladder, an improved structure ofrail or way along which the ladder is drawn and from which it depends,and a novel arrangement for hanging the bracket from said rail.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 shows a building in front elevation with the apparatus appliedthereto. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing but a fragment of thefront of a building. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the upper rail, and Fig. 4is a detail view of the bracket secured to the ladder.

In the type of apparatus shown a ladder is provided which depends from asupport near the caves of abnilding in close juxtaposition to the frontwall thereof, so that when it is pulled in front of a window it mayreadily be grasped by a person therein.

As shown herein, the ladder is indicated at A and is comprised of metalside pieces and connecting-rungs. The ladder depends from a rail or wayB, intended to be secured to the front of a building at or near theeaves of the same. In the present instance this rail or way comprises ametal bar or plate having small recesses near each end thereof and along central slot extending longitudinally thereof. To the upper end ofthe ladder a bracket C is secured, having rollers c journaled thereto,which run upon the upper face of the bar B. This bracket comprises afiat plate, which passes through the slot in the bar B and is providedwith two legs cl d, secured to the sides of the ladder, and a centralextension e, having a pin f passing transversely through the same, whichprovides journals for the rollers c, which run upon the upper face ofthe bar B. The ladder is thus hung from the bar B so that it may befreely drawn along the same. As the bracket 0 passes through the slotinsaid bar and carries the rollers c, it is absolutely impossible for theladder to become accidentally disengaged from said bar.

To steady the ladder and maintain it throughout its length in closejuxtaposition to the front of the building, a set of guiderollers E aresecured thereto intermediate of the length of the same, which run andare guided on an auxiliary rail E, arranged parallel to the rail B andsecured to the front of the building by any suitable fastening devices.

To draw the ladder back and forth along the front of the building tobring it before the different windows therein, two sets of cables areprovided. One set of cables is connected to the ladder in alinement withthe axis of the wheels 0, so that as strain is placed on either rope orcable a a of this set the ladder will be drawn along freely withoutafiecting the perpendicular position in which it is desirable tomaintain the same. The ends of the ropes or cables a a are attached to aring or bail secured from the pin f, and they pass from this pointtoward the opposite sides of the building, where they are guided overpulleys b 6 located within the end recesses in the bar B, and thencethey pass through guiding-eyes secured in the front of the building,their free ends extending into easy reaching distance of the ground. Themembers comprising the other set of ropes or cables are secured to thesides of the ladder intermediate of the length thereof, and they alsoextend toward the oppositesides of the building and pass through guideeyes and then depend within easy reach of the ground.

The ladder, as shown, is made of sucha length relatively to the heightof the building to which the apparatus is applied that its lower endwill terminate above the first story, so that it is out of the way atall times and will not obstruct the entrances to or the exits from thebuilding.

The use of the invention is so apparent that it is not deemed necessaryto describe the same.

I claim- 1. In a fire-escape, the combination with a ladder, of ahorizontally-arranged supportingrail having a longitudinal slot thereinand recessed at opposite ends, pulleys located in said recesses, abracket secured to the upper end of the ladder and having a centralextension passed through the slot in said rail, a pintle passedtransversely through the extension, an auxiliaryguide-rail, rollersmounted upon opposite sides of said extension on the pintle, and rollersmonnted'on the ladder near its lower end and movable upon the auxiliaryguide-rail, substantially as described.

2. In a fire-escape, the combination with a ladder, ofahorizontally-arranged supportingrail having a longitudinal slot thereinand recessed at opposite ends, pulleys located in said recesses, abracket secured to the upper end of the ladder and having a centralextension passed through the slot in said rail, a pintle passedtransversel y through the extension, an auxiliary guide-rail, rollersmounted upon opposite sides of said extension on the pintle, and rollersmounted on the ladder near its lower end and movable upon the auxiliaryguide-rail, a bail secured to the pintle of the upper rollers on theladder and ropes attached to said bail and passed over said pulleys andthrough fixed guiding-eyes, all substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD P. LE OOMPTE. Witnesses:

L. B. WIGHT, M. H. WIGHT.

